Swami Haridas
Encyclopedia
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
. Credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words "dhruva" and "pada"...
style, he is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today in North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
. His work influenced both the classical music and the Bhakti movement
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
s of North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
, especially those devoted to Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
's consort Radha
Radha
Radha , also called Radhika, Radharani and Radhikarani, is the childhood friend and lover of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda of the Vaisnava traditions of Hinduism...
. He is accounted a follower of the Nimbarka Sampradaya
Nimbarka Sampradaya
The Nimbarka Sampradaya , also known as the Hamsa Sampradāya, Kumāra Sampradāya, ' and Sanakādi Sampradāya, is one of the four authorised Sampradāyas as according to the Padma , one of the eighteen main...
, the major Vaisnava tradition of exclusive devotion to Radha-Krishna. He was the disciple of Purandara Dasa
Purandara Dasa
Purandara Dāsa is one of the most prominent composers of Carnatic music and is widely regarded as the "father of Carnatic Music". Purandara Dasa addressed social issues in addition to worship in his compositions, a practice emulated by his younger contemporary, Kanaka Dasa...
, some also believe Bhai Mardana was his teacher and the teacher of Tansen
Tansen
Mia Tansen is considered among the greatest composer-musicians in Hindustani classical music. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab .He was among the Navaratnas at the court of the...
.
Biography
The details of Haridas's life are not well known. According to one school of thought he was born in 1480 in RajpurRajpur
Rajpur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Barwani district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.-Geography:Rajpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 225 metres .-Demographics:...
, near Brindavan. His father's name was Gangadhar and his mother's name was Chitra Devi. In this version of his life story Haridas is said to have died in 1575. A second school holds that Haridas's father was a Saraswat Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
from Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
and that his mother's name was Ganga Devi. The family migrated to a village called Khairwali Sarak, near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. Haridas was born there in 1512 and the village is now called Haridaspur
Haridaspur, Uttar Pradesh
Haridaspur is a village near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also known by the name Khairwali Sarak. The name "Haridaspur" was given in honour of Swami Haridas, who was born in this village...
in his honor. This school holds that he died in 1607.
Swami Haridas spent some time at the Gwalior court of Raja Mansingh Tomar, whose patronage of Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
, and particularly the dhrupad
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words "dhruva" and "pada"...
style, left an indelible mark in the period c. 1485-1510. In Tomar's court were a galaxy of musicians such as Bhanu and Baiju Bawra
Baiju Bawra
Baiju Bawra is an award-winning 1952 Hindi movie directed by Vijay Bhatt. It stars Bharat Bhushan and Meena Kumari.The movie is based on the legend of Baiju Bawra from the days of Mughal Emperor Akbar in India. Baiju is the son of a musician who also grows up to be a musician...
and he was eulogised by Tansen
Tansen
Mia Tansen is considered among the greatest composer-musicians in Hindustani classical music. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab .He was among the Navaratnas at the court of the...
. Haridas was in his element at the court, and composed a large number of songs in Brij Bhasha
Brij Bhasha
Braj Bhasha , also called Brij Bhasha , Braj Bhakha , or Dehaati Zabaan , is a Central Indian language closely related to Hindi...
and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. He was deeply learned and widely acquainted with the music of his time. Mention is found in his works of stringed instruments such as the kinnari and aghouti, and of drums such as the mridanga and daff
DAFF
DAFF may refer to:*Danish American Football Federation*Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry , various*Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries...
. He mentions the raga
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s of Kedar, Gauri (raga), Malhar
Raga malhar
Malhar is an old raga in Indian classical music. Malhar is associated with the atmosphere of torrential rains.- Legend :According to the legend, Malhar is so powerful that when sung, rain falls from the sky....
and Basant
Raga Basant
Vasant is a raga that appears in the Sikh tradition from northern India and is part of the Guru Granth Sahib. Every raga has a strict set of rules which govern the number of notes that can be used; which notes can be used; and their interplay that has to be adhered to for the composition of a tune...
. Swami Haridas is said to have been the teacher of Tansen
Tansen
Mia Tansen is considered among the greatest composer-musicians in Hindustani classical music. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab .He was among the Navaratnas at the court of the...
, one of the 'nine gems` of Akbar's court, and the renowned dhrupad singer and composer Baiju
Baiju Bawra
Baiju Bawra is an award-winning 1952 Hindi movie directed by Vijay Bhatt. It stars Bharat Bhushan and Meena Kumari.The movie is based on the legend of Baiju Bawra from the days of Mughal Emperor Akbar in India. Baiju is the son of a musician who also grows up to be a musician...
.
He later shifted his residence to Vrindavan
Vrindavan
Vrindavan also known as Vraj is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India...
, the playground of the immortal cowherd Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
and his lover Radha
Radha
Radha , also called Radhika, Radharani and Radhikarani, is the childhood friend and lover of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda of the Vaisnava traditions of Hinduism...
. There he built his ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
(hermitage) in Nidhivan and sang his songs of the love of Radha-Krishna. Following the example of Swami Shribhatta, Haridas continued to praise the Lord until the Lord manifested himself. Swami Haridas' spiritual disciples included Vitthal and Krishna Das
Krishna Das
Krishna Das is a U.S. vocalist known for his performances of Indian devotional music called kirtan . With eight albums released since 1996, Das is perhaps the best known U.S...
who fostered his tradition of devotional music. Groups (samaj, like the sankeertan of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
and the bhajana goshti of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
) of devotees came together and sang of the Lord of Vrindavan
Vrindavan
Vrindavan also known as Vraj is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India...
.
His samadhi
Samadhi
Samadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....
(tomb) is still in Nidhivan, Vrindavan. He is sometimes said to have been the incarnation of Lalita Sakhi
Lalita (gopi)
Lalita the name of one of the principal gopis within traditional Gaudiya Vaishnava worship of Radha and Krishna.-Among the gopis:Within Vaishnava theology and Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, Lalita is included amongst the eight principle gopis, known as 'sakhis' or friends of Srimati Radharani, Lord...
, the legendary friend who consoled Radha
Radha
Radha , also called Radhika, Radharani and Radhikarani, is the childhood friend and lover of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda of the Vaisnava traditions of Hinduism...
in her lovelorn state.
Songs of Swami Haridas
Haridas's compositions may be classed as VishnupadaVishnupada
Vishnupadas are songs in praise of Lord Vishnu and of his popular eighth avatar, Lord Krishna....
s. Even his prabandhas that do not refer to Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
have come to be known as Vishnupada
Vishnupada
Vishnupadas are songs in praise of Lord Vishnu and of his popular eighth avatar, Lord Krishna....
s, perhaps because of the mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
source of his music but also because they are musically constructed in a manner similar to dhrupad
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words "dhruva" and "pada"...
s. He is also said to have written tirvats, ragamalas and other forms. There are around 128 compositions attributed to him, of which eighteen are philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
(siddhanta
Siddhanta
Siddhanta, a Sanskrit term, roughly translates as the Doctrine or the Tradition. It denotes the established and accepted view of a particular school within Indian philosophy.-Hindu philosophy:...
pada
Pada
Pada may refer to:*Pada , in Sanskrit grammar, and Hindu and Buddhist tradition*Sri Pada or Adam's Peak, a mountain in Sri Lanka*Pada, Estonia, village in Viru-Nigula Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia*Pada River, see List of rivers of Estonia...
) and a hundred and ten devotional (keli mala).
He describes Radha and Krishna's sporting beautifully: Two beams of light are playing - Unique their dance and music. Ragas and raginis of heavenly beauty are born, The two have sunk themselves in the ocean of raga. Swami Haridas belonged to the tradition of madhura
Madhura
Madhu is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning honey or sweet. It also means mead and is used for alcohol. The word originates in Sanskrit and has cognates in most Indo-European languages.-Alcohol and mead:...
bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
- Adoration expressed in conjugal imagery. Haridas's theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
embraces not merely the Love of Krishna and Radha but also the witnessing of the Love, a state of mind called rasa
Rasa (theology)
Rasa is a Sanskrit theological concept specific to Krishna-centered bhakti traditions, such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The theological use of the word can be found early, about two thousand years before the Nimbarka or Caitanya schools of bhakti, in a phrase that Chaitanya traditions frequently...
. In an ecstatic condition of trance he sings of the play of Krishna among the bowers of Vrindavan. More than Krishna, Radha was the central personality of all his poems. He says; Who knows of the quality of things more than Radha? If anyone has any knowledge at all, it is by her grace. None knows the beauty of raga, tala and dance as Radha does.
See also
- Bhakti movementBhakti movementThe Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
- Music of IndiaMusic of IndiaThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
- Hindustani classical musicHindustani classical musicHindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...
- Achintya Bheda AbhedaAchintya Bheda AbhedaAchintya-Bheda-Abheda is a school of Vedanta representing the philosophy of inconceivable one-ness and difference, in relation to the power creation and creator, , svayam bhagavan. and also between God and his energies within the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition...